


Until The Day I Die

by kittyhittyrh



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom, Marble Hornets
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Contracts, Denial of Feelings, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Heartbreak, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Killing, M/M, Multi, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Past Relationship(s), Proxies (Slender Man Mythos), Suicide, Teen Angst, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:42:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24895600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittyhittyrh/pseuds/kittyhittyrh
Summary: Cole has lived in the underrealm for a little over two years now. He and Toby have gotten rather close. They would even consider themselves as friends. However after misstep in handling a near kiss, the boys' relationship becomes very strained.
Relationships: BEN (BEN Drowned)/Jeffrey Woods | Jeff the Killer, BEN (BEN Drowned)/Original Character(s), Brian Thomas/Timothy "Tim" Wright, Hoody/Masky (Creepypasta), Jeffrey Woods | Jeff the Killer/Original Female Character(s), Natalie Ouellette | Clockwork/Tobias Erin "Toby" Rogers | Ticci Toby, Tobias Erin "Toby" Rogers | Ticci Toby & Brian Thomas, Tobias Erin "Toby" Rogers | Ticci Toby & Timothy "Tim" Wright | Masky, Tobias Erin "Toby" Rogers | Ticci Toby/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 7
Collections: Creepypasta





	1. Chapter 1

The cheap motel room gave off a smell of sex and alcohol. Alone in the room a boy no more than 17 sat at the corner desk, he was writing on a napkin.  
“I’m sorry, Angel,” He dropped his pen, tears falling from his sea-green eyes. Grabbing the pistol from the desk, he placed it to his temple and pulled the trigger.  
Cole shot up into a sitting position. He could smell the dampness of the forest around him. His head in his hands as it throbbed. The last thing he remembered was a loud bang.  
A dull smell of burnt flesh filled the air.  
“Morning, Sleepyhead.”  
He turned to face his companion. A woman leaned against a tree. Her gray skin contrasting against the dark oak wood in the night. She brushed the bangs of her long unkempt black hair out of her face, tucking a strand behind one of her pointed ears. She wore black armor that showed off her midsection.  
After staring at the woman a moment everything flooded back and he felt like he was going to vomit. Cole hopped to his feet, taking a few steps back.  
“That’s no way to greet an old friend, Cole.” Her crimson eyes flashed, maliciously.  
“Fr-friend?! You’re no friend!”  
The woman pouted, “After all I did for you?”  
Cole gritted his teeth, “After all you took from me!”  
She tilted her head as though she had not a clue what he was talking about before she gave a gnarled grin, “Maybe you should have read the fineprint of the contract before you signed it.”  
The woman tossed him something, which he caught. Once it was in his hands she disappeared into a puff of smoke with a giggle.  
The forest echoed with the sound. Cole stared down at the red and black sleep mask she’d given him. His hands shook as his legs gave out from beneath him. He didn’t even realize he was crying until the tiny dark splotches appeared on the fabric.  
“Hey, Buddy, are you okay?”  
Cole wiped the tears from his voided eyes, staring up at the person.  
A boy around his age, maybe younger, stood next to a different tree. His features were hard to identify due to the goggles and cloth mask he wore. He was wearing a blue hooded, brown hoodie with striped sleeves, jeans and sneakers. The boy twitched and he cracked his gloved knuckles.  
Seeing the bloodied hand ax that hung from his hip Cole jumped to his feet. He mustered speed he never knew he had and pinned the boy against the tree using his forearm to keep him there.  
He pressed the appendage into the other boy’s throat. The boy blinked his chestnut ringed blue eyes behind his goggles slowly, “You must be new.”  
“Wh-where am I?! Why did she bring me here?!”  
“Slender Woods. Which she? There's a lot of shes here.” How was he speaking so calmly when he was being choked?  
“I leave you alone for a few minutes and you’re already terrorizing Toby. Tsk tsk.”  
Before Cole could respond he was pulled off of the boy and thrown into the ground. He was sent back into blackness.  
“That was a little harsh, Ablaze,” Toby walked over to the unconscious boy, prodding him with his foot.  
“Not my fault you can’t feel pain. Someone had to get him off you,” Ablaze crossed her arms.  
“I’m not a baby. I can handle myself,” Toby cracked his knuckles as he knelt down. He then pushed Cole’s dark brown hair out of his face.  
“Is that a pun because of your weapon?” Ablaze giggled.  
Toby rolled his eyes, “What’da we do with him?”  
“Already spoke to tall, pale and slender,” she giggled, “He’s rooming with you.”  
“What?! Why me?” He let out a ticking sound.  
“He’s gunna be my proxy. Proxies need to share rooms. Masky and Hoodie share a room. You’re the only other proxy that lives here.”  
Toby suppressed a groan, “Let me guess… I’m going to have to take him to our room.” Our came out in very much distaste.  
“Thanks for offering,” Ablaze ruffled his brown locks before once again disappearing in a puff of black smoke.  
With a sigh, Toby picked up the unconscious boy, “You’re lucky you're cute, Dude.”  
Cole’s head fell against his shoulder, causing Toby to blush a bit.  
~  
Crack.  
“Why do you do that?”  
Toby looked over at Cole, blinking tiredly, “What?”  
It had been maybe a week, neither had really paid attention.  
“Crack your knuckles n’ shit.”  
Toby stared at the other a moment before shrugging, “Just something I do.”  
“Yeah but why?”  
Toby sighed; he really didn’t want to get into this. He gave a twitch, a tick followed.  
“And that. Why?”  
Looking from the other to the floor, then back. Cole sat on his bed, staring at him curiously. Well what Toby thought was curiosity at least. The void of his eyes made it hard to tell, but the way his eyebrow was quirked showed something.  
“I have Tourettes Syndrome and a slew of other problems.”  
Cole’s mouth moved from one side to the other, a habit Toby realized when he was thinking, “What’s Tourettes Syndrome?”  
“Basically a disorder where the person uncontrollably cracks their joints and sometimes tics. Sometimes they say things.”  
“You don’t seem to be uncontrollable.”  
Toby shrugs, “It was worse when I was alive. I have more control now. It’s mostly just urges now and it's kind of comforting.”  
“What about the other issues?”  
Letting out an annoyed sigh, “I’m Bipolar and have CIPA.”  
“What?”  
“Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis.”  
“Uhm?” Cole’s shoulders rose, face scrunching.  
“There's a lot that goes with it. But basically I can’t feel pain or temperature.”  
“So that's why when I choked you… you didn’t react.”  
Toby nodded, “I can still feel pressure though.”  
“Oh… uhm… what was the worst thing you’ve done?”  
Toby looked at him, “I bit the skin off my fingers.”  
Cole looked at his hands, feeling a knot form in his stomach, then back at Toby, “But I’ve seen you without gloves…”  
“Death heals some things. I still have scars though,” he took off his right glove, lifting his hand with a slight twitch.  
Cole took his hand and looked it over, around each knuckle and just below each nail were scars, Toby pulled his hand back, the twitching occurring slightly faster.  
“So anything else or do you not want to talk about it?”  
Toby looked up at the ceiling, “After, my sister, Lyra’s death I developed PTSD and when I first came into contact with Slenderman I developed schizophrenia but since I’ve died both have gone away.”  
Cole looked at him, “That's it?”  
Toby nodded, “Pretty much. Anything else you want to know?”  
“You mentioned your sister, what about your parents?”  
Toby froze, “Mom... Mom’s great… Dad…” He sighed, “I can’t talk about this right now.”  
“Sorry if I pushed you.”  
Toby shrugged and kicked off his shoes, “I have to get some sleep. Slenderman wants me up early tomorrow.”  
Cole nodded, catching the sunlight through the blinds, “Alright, night.”  
~  
Six months later Toby smiled under his mask as he awaited Cole’s return. He sat beneath the tree they usually met under. Once a week at around 1:30am they would meet here.  
The routine had started in the past month. When they were usually done with whatever activities their bosses had for them for the day.  
Toby chuckled to himself; Cole hated to call Ablaze by that word.  
The goggled proxy realized he felt calmer around the black eyed boy. He didn’t understand why but the urges to crack parts of his body, twitch and tick seemed to disappear when he was with him.  
He heard footsteps, “Cole-”  
Covered in blood and sobbing his friend fell in front of him, “I didn’t want to. She made me. Sh-she made me.”  
Without thinking, Toby pulled him into a hug. Cole had always been very adamant in never wanting to hurt or kill anyone.  
“It’s okay.” It really wasn’t but it didn’t even matter. Toby was one with no right to say anything.  
They sat there on the ground; two boys barely out of their teens, one crying as the other comforted him.  
Time passed, it started to rain.  
Toby didn’t want to disturb Cole but if they became muddy the Slenderman was going to have a fit. Somehow the being had managed to perfectly get blood out of anything but not mud.  
“Cole-”  
“What was your first kill like, Tobe?”  
Toby bit his lip. The rain started to come down heavier. After a few moments the goggled proxy let out a sigh, “Let’s get inside first. It’s a long story.”  
~  
“I swear if he doesn’t get away from that tombstone…” Masky’s voice trailed off.  
Hoodie and Toby looked at their comrade before looking over at Cole.  
It had been a year since Ablaze had brought Cole into the family. In that year the boy refused to obey his boss on numerous occasions. The only reason he even agreed to go on this mission was because Toby was going along. They had been assigned to scout out this area for any of Zalgo’s agents. The demon was getting more testing to the Slenderman every day. To think the beings had once been comrades, friends even.  
The moment they’d gotten to this part of the cemetery Cole had taken one look at the tombstone and froze. He really should have been wearing his mask. The boy hadn’t moved an inch from that spot in the ten minutes it took to make sure the area was secure.  
Masky started to make his way over to Cole but Toby stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, “You guys go ahead. We’ll catch up okay?”  
Toby could see dark eyes narrow behind the black fabric of the feminine white mask.  
“Fine, let's go Hoodie,” without waiting he walked further into the cemetery. Hoodie, Toby knew, was smiling at him from under his own mask before he followed his friend.  
Toby slowly walked over to Cole, “You know you should probably wear your mask.”  
“I don’t like being blind.”  
“Cut out the eyes then,” he looked at the tombstone, “‘Angelle Wint’?”  
“It’s no one.”  
“Bullshit. If she’s no one you wouldn’t have taken a second glance,” Toby’s eyes narrowed under his goggles.  
“Jealous?”  
Toby scoffed, “N-no. I’m just being a good friend.”  
“Come on. Those two have probably finished the rest of the cemetery knowing them. Might as well get home; so they can fuck.”  
Toby choked back a laugh, “I don’t know. They’ve been here longer than most of us. They haven't shown much of an interest in anything other than working, especially Hoodie.”  
“Maybe, one day.”  
Toby actually laughed this time, “In a galaxy far far away… So are you going to tell me who Angelle was?”  
Cole sighed, “Angel… was someone I made a promise too.”


	2. Chapter 2

Two years have passed since Cole’s arrival. It was a warm evening in Slender Woods. Toby was making his way out to the back of the manor.  
He found their tree where Cole sat at the base of the trunk. Cole had begun wearing his sleep mask a couple months before. He turned to face the other. A smile on his face, “Took you long enough, Toby. I thought the sun would rise before you got here.”  
Toby twitched slightly, his heart fluttering at the other’s smile. He was the only person to make him smile.  
“Sorry, Cole,” Toby muttered, “Slender needed me to do a quick check around the forest.”  
Cole gave a hum of understanding, though Toby knew he would have rather snarked about how the faceless being shouldn’t be making everyone do stuff.  
Cole was still wasn’t exactly happy with his situation. He just enjoyed speaking with Toby too much to waste it complaining about the Underrealm, Slender Woods and Manor.  
Toby sat next to him, “You know something strange?”  
Cole tilted his head, “Besides us being here?”  
Toby refrained his urge to smack him, “We meet at the same tree at the same time every evening.”  
Cole was silent a moment, realizing he was right. This was even the same tree they’d meet at.  
“Yeah,” Cole mumbled, “Hey, I’m sorry about how I acted when we met. I wasn't in the right state of mind.”  
Toby let out a small giggle, “I’ve told you not to worry about that. Besides it's not like you hurt me. I can’t feel pain, remember?” His eyes sparkled a bit under his goggles as he smiled at the other.  
Cole nodded, remembering a previous conversation with Toby. His thoughts were interrupted by the other tugging at his sleep mask.  
“Hey! What are you-”  
“I hate talking to you when you have this stupid thing on,” Toby interrupted, curtly.  
Cole sighed and pulled away from the other, “I’d prefer to keep it on, Toby. It makes me look relatively normal.”  
Toby pouted under his mask, letting out a hot breath that would have fogged his goggles if they weren't so tightly pressed to his face.  
“Don’t pout at me,” Cole quipped.  
“You can’t even see me! How do you know what I’m doing! Huh?!” Toby’s eyes narrowed under his goggles.  
Cole smirked, lightly, “I know you by now. And when you don’t get what you want you act like the child you were when you died.”  
Toby lurched forward in an attempt to remove the mask. Cole, hearing his body weight shift, leaned to the side a bit, but purposely not enough to avoid the other. The goggled proxy fell against his friend, causing them both to fall back. “Not fair!” Toby pouted, reaching up to snatched away the mask.  
Cole chuckled as he avoided the other's frantic movements. This went on for quite awhile.  
Cole decided to give in once he received an unexpected lapful of Toby. “A-alright! Alright! I give! I’ll take off my mask!”  
Toby laughed, gleefully and sat back. He didn’t realize he’d just straddled the other.  
Cole pulled the mask off, dropping it next to him as soon as he saw the sight before him. He felt his cheeks heat up, his eyes widened. Toby cocked his head to the side in confusion. He then realized how and where he was sitting. Freezing in place, his face feeling as if it were on fire.  
“I-I’m sorry! It was an accident!” He attempted to get up but was stopped by Cole’s hands on his slender hips.  
“I-It’s alright. I just wasn’t expecting,” his voice trailed off as he reached up to rest a hand on the other’s covered cheek.  
“I-I see,” Toby stammered, subconsciously leaning against the hand.  
Cole slowly pulled the other down, a thick silence filling the air. Toby let out a shaky breath as his friend started to remove the mask from the lower half of his face.  
Before it was a centimeter away from his nose the moment was ruined by a sharp feminine laughter from above them. Almost instantly Cole shoved Toby off him.  
The shove was a lot harder than it was supposed to be. Toby landed about a foot away with a loud thud. The boy gave a violent twitch, a notable ‘tic’ was heard. Toby sat up, he was shaking a bit. Of course not out of pain, it wasn’t even anger; he could feel rejection coursing through him.  
“Oh my god! Toby, I’m sorry!” Cole quickly crawled over to the other.  
Toby looked away from him, biting a quivering lip. He wasn't going to cry.  
The laugh from before sounded again, then Ablaze slid out from the tree the two had just been under, “So sorry to have interrupted your guys’ date. It was just too tempting.”  
“Leave, Harpy,” Cole spat, quickly, his black gaze glaring at her.  
She gave an obviously fake pout, “Is that anyway to treat your boss? Hm?” She snickered.  
Cole rolled his eyes, “You're not my boss.”  
“Of course I am. You are my proxy after all.”  
Cole closed his eyes, trying to ignore the woman in front of him. He wasn’t going to blow a fuse. Not in front of Toby. He’d already upset him enough.  
“Such a cold shoulder, do you act this way toward your boyfriend?” She smiled at Toby, who in turn raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
“W-we’re not-”  
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Cole growled.  
Ablaze pushed her hair out of her eyes as her lips quirked into a smirk, “Sure seemed like it with that display a minute ago.”  
“What display? Nothing happened!” Cole stated, defensively, as he noticed Toby twitch.  
Said proxy felt a lump form in his throat. His eyes started to well up.  
No, no, no. Keep it together, Toby.  
The woman scoffed, “I’m not bl-”  
“If he said nothing happened, nothing happened, Ablaze!” Toby interrupted her with a shout, his voice cracking.  
Ablaze flicked her eyes to him, “Toby, don’t cover for my proxy.”  
Before he could respond, Cole growled again, “Stop calling me that!”  
Ablaze laughed, “You are in no position to give orders,” she teased.  
“You ruined my life! I will say what I want, Bitch!”  
The playful demeanor vanished, “I ruined your life? How was doing what you asked ruining your life?!”  
“When you took the only thing I cared about from me! When you didn't let me die and brought me here!”  
Ablaze growled, “I don’t offer without payment! I told you that! You should have understood what I meant when I refused your money!”  
Cole clenched a fist, “How exactly was I supposed to know?! I was fucking 14! Not just that but I was human! How could I have known what a demon like you meant by ‘payment’?!”  
Sharp teeth gritted together, “Ask before you make a deal!”  
“Fuck you and your deals! I want released!”  
A twisted sneer crossed her lips, “It’s a little late to be saying that. I own you now; you do what I want and when I say it.”  
Before Cole could counter a static sound rang out. Masky appeared in between them and punched Ablaze in the face, knocking her to the ground. She rubbed her cheek. Her crimson gaze fixated on Masky.


	3. Chapter 3

"The fuck was that for?!” Ablaze spat out at masked proxy.  
"What gives you the fucking right to say the shit you're saying about what you can do with your proxy, huh?! Do you think we're nothing but tools? Slaves to do your bidding? No! We’re not! We are still people! We still have emotions and our own thoughts and opinions! Plus, you don't really know what being a proxy is really like, especially if you never fucking asked for it like some other people I've seen on the fucking news and internet; which I don’t even fucking understand why people would want this! Being a proxy is literally the worst thing in the fucking world. I would rather be shot to death by a terrorist than be the proxy I am today!" Masky yelled at her, not seeming to be afraid of her gaze.  
Ablaze's gaze softened, "Masky-" she cut herself off then got out the light sound of a “T” before she was cut off by a dark laughter.  
"That's exactly what I've been trying to tell her! Thanks a lot man!" Her gaze reverted back to anger again as she glared past Masky and at Cole, who was currently laughing at her.  
Masky glared back at Cole. "And what the fuck are you laughing at?"  
Cole barely noticed the glare, "Her! Finally she seems to get a grasp on what she did to me! And it makes me so fucking happy!"  
He laughed again. "Thank you!"  
Toby, after twitching a few times, looked at Masky, his eyes wide under his goggles. "Masky don't be angry with him. You don't know what he's been through!"  
His voice probably wasn't heard over Cole's laughter. He bit his lip under his mask, his eyes flashing over to Hoodie for help.  
"And why exactly are you a proxy, Cole? How exactly did you get into the position you're in now?" Masky said his voice low as he turned towards the laughing boy.  
Cole stopped laughing. "I accepted her help. She fucked me over. Do I really have to tell you? I'm pretty sure she's told all of you by now."  
Ablaze growled, "I fucked you over?! I- mmphff!" Toby had slender-walked over and covered her mouth with his hand.  
He shook his head, but gave her a look of apology.  
"And why exactly did you want her help? What sort of issue were you having?" Masky asked, sounding as if his teeth were gritted.  
"My family was a piece of shit okay?! She offered to get rid of the problem! I-I didn't know she'd kill more than just them!" Cole glared at the masked male as he remembered the other she killed.  
His eyes started to well with tears that he fought back. He wished Toby hadn’t made him take off his mask. His black eyes really didn't hide tears all too well.  
"So, you took some random stranger’s offer to basically kill your family just because they were shitty? Oh boo-fucking-hoo for you, you spineless crybaby," Masky teased, a sneer in his voice, clearly not impressed.  
Cole growled, "Yes, she killed my family and that I thank her for but I figured she'd leave after that! I didn't know she'd stay and- don't you laugh at me, you harpy! This is your fault!"  
Ablaze was shaking with silent laughter as Toby kept her mouth shut.  
Toby frowned at her through his mask, and then realized why she was laughing. He let a small giggle out before noticing Hoodie's disappointed stare. With everything going on no one had noticed Hoodie walk over. Though he still kept a distance as he was unsure of how to calm his friend down.  
"You got off easy, Cole. Do you want to know how I became a proxy? By having my life fucking ruined and forced to be here! That's how. I had a normal life until I decided to audition for a film project this guy I thought was my friend wanted to do. That is when everything went to shit! That is when all of the pieces fit together on why I had been feeling so strange for the majority of my life! It's when he finally decided to show his non-existent fucking face and destroy everything! My friends, my life, my sanity! And then instead of killing me, he decides to make me his fucking slave for the rest of fucking eternity until he finally grows tired of me; which honestly with Toby being the fucking golden child he is, I’m surprised he hasn't already.”  
Toby looked away in embarrassment, he let Ablaze go.  
“You didn't have to run for your fucking life from a teleporting creature who would chase you down and cause you to have fucking seizures. You didn't have to watch as your friends died or betrayed you. You didn’t have to suffer through being controlled into killing people and not remembering it afterwards which made you feel all the more terrified and guilty every time you woke up with the blood on your hands and clothes!" Masky screamed, causing birds to fly out from the trees and into the sky, squawking madly.  
Cole didn't seem to know how to respond. Anger suddenly made him blurt out, "At least you're not dead!"  
At that moment Hoodie finally stepped in, "That's enough!"  
Cole glared at him. "Oh look, the guy in the orange hoodie is speaking now? You got something you want to say on how I royally fucked myself?!"  
Hoodie walked over, stopping next to Masky, he gave no glance to Cole but his next words were meant for him, "You are not my concern."  
Cole growled.  
"You made a choice. You are suffering for it. You ruined the chance for yourself to be normal. Taking your anger out now will do nothing."  
Hoodie placed a hand onto Masky's shoulder, "You need to calm down, Masky. His anger should not affect you. You need to ignore them. If our boss didn't think Kellie could handle him he wouldn't have let her keep him."  
Keep?! I’m not a fucking animal! Cole was ready to interject.  
"And who fucking asked you, Brian?!" Masky screamed in pure anger, shoving Hoodie's arm off of him.  
Hoodie took a step back. He gave a look at the others. Even with his mask on it was obvious. He was confused. Being dead for so long had made him forget his own name. He was so used to being called Hoodie that it conditioned him to think that was his name.  
Masky was panting out of frustration, staring at Hoodie and waiting for him to respond.  
Hoodie took a deep breath before stammering, "T-T-Masky, please calm down. You know what he'll do if he senses you acting like this." He reached for his friend once more, attempting to calm him.  
"I. Don’t. Care. I don’t give a fucking shit anymore! I want to fucking die!" Masky yelled.  
Hoodie flinched at the words, lowering his hand,"T-Masky, I don't want to see my best friend have a seizure! Please calm down!"  
"Such a great best friend," Cole muttered, "Can't even call the guy by his real name."  
Toby smacked him.  
"What I say?"  
Hoodie ignored the exchange waiting for a response.  
"I don't even know who you really are anymore, 'Hoodie'. If you really are my best friend, then listen to me when I say this. Fuck. Off!" Masky growled before turning and running off.  
"Masky!" Hoodie attempted to run after him but was held back by Ablaze.  
"Kellie, let go of me!"  
"No."  
Hoodie attempted to pull away from her, "Yes! I have to go after him!"  
"I'll let you go on one condition," she paused, waiting for the hooded proxy to stop moving.  
When he finally stopped pulling she spoke, "Now. Say his name."  
"Masky."  
Ablaze's grip tightened.  
"Let me go! I told you!" Hoodie yelled in frustration.  
"Hoodie- Brian, you know that's not his name. You were trying to say it before. I know it. You know it. Think," Ablaze gave him a hard look.  
At the mention of his name, his real name, Hoodie stopped all attempts of escape. He grew silent.  
Ablaze clenched her teeth. "Say it. I won't let you go otherwise."  
Hoodie refused to speak and he started to shake.  
Ablaze smiled lightly, "Brian... What is his name?"  
He mumbled something that Toby and Cole couldn't hear but Ablaze did hear; Hoodie shook more, letting out a pained sound.  
She let him go.  
Hoodie instantly started running in the direction Masky ran off in, “Tim!”  
Cole, Ablaze and Toby stood, awkwardly.  
“Are they going to be okay?” Toby asked, quietly. He cracked his knuckles.  
Ablaze smiled a little, “I think they’ll be more than okay.”  
Cole stood, silent. His shoulders slumped a bit. His black eyes wandered anywhere but Toby. His promise to her was almost broken. He couldn’t believe he’d almost kissed his best friend, that he wanted to kiss him. Best friend? Is that what they’d become overtime? Could killers even be friends?  
So many questions were running through his mind, Toby’s voice broke him from his daze.  
“I’m going to bed. The Slenderman wants me up early tomorrow. See you guys later,” His voice was so quiet right now.  
Cole felt pain in his chest, “Do you want me to walk with you to our room?”  
Toby gave a noticeable twitch, a soft ticking sound being heard, “No.”  
The boy slenderwalked back to the manor, he left behind a crackling sound and shimmer of sparks.  
Ablaze stared at Cole, her arms crossed.  
“What?”  
Her eyes narrowed.  
“Why are you looking at me like that, Harpy?!”  
She scoffed before disappearing into a puff of smoke.  
Cole sighed, then, never one to use the abilities Ablaze cursed him with, walked back to the manor.


	4. Chapter 4

Cole lay in his bed, the sun was ready to set. Toby had gone out with Masky and Hoodie, Tim and Brian, Cole wasn’t sure what to call them now.  
It had been a little over a week since his and Ablaze’s argument. In that week Masky and Hoodie, fuck it that's what he was used to calling them, had gotten together, they seemed even closer in the last few days, and Toby had barely spoken to him.  
Cole wanted to chalk it up to Toby being busy. He wanted to blame the Slenderman for keeping him from his friend. He couldn’t. Toby was avoiding him.  
Hoping that wasn't the case and that Toby would show up for their weekly meeting Cole got out of bed.  
~  
After feeling a soft hand tap his cheek the boy opened his eyes, blinking a little to rid them of sleep. He smiled faintly at the girl above him, her tan face obscured by her dusty locks.  
“You’re parents are gunna kill me if they catch you in here.”  
She giggled, “I couldn’t sleep, Coco.”  
He rolled his eyes, lifting the blanket, “Get under here you big baby.”  
The girl dove against his chest, snuggling into the warmth. A huff of breath escaped him, “Oof.”  
“Thank you, Coco,” Her caramel eyes stared up at him.  
His sea-green eyes squinted as he smiled, “'Welcome,” He kissed her forehead, “Why couldn’t you sleep, Babe?”  
“I had the dream again. The one with the red lights.”  
The boy grew silent.  
“Co-”  
“It’s just a dream. Go to sleep. I’ll be here, Angel,” He rested his chin against the top of her head.  
“I love you,” she smiled.  
“I love you, too.”  
~  
Cole sat up shaking, tears streaming from his eyes. He wiped them away, looking around.  
Right, it was almost 2. Where was Toby?  
He let out a shaky breath, clearing his mind of the dream.  
Footsteps caught his attention and he turned just in time to see Toby walking up, his head down, hands in his pockets. The goggled proxy stopped in front of him.  
“Hey, To-”  
“You should be wearing your mask. Ablaze will be pissed,” his voice was monotone.  
Cole took note of the neck crack the followed, “To-”  
“Can I ask you a question?” He still hadn’t looked at him.  
Cole felt something in him drop, his heart maybe, “Shoot?”  
“Do you like me?”  
“Well yeah. You’re my be-”  
“No!” Toby finally looked at Cole, “Do you like me?”  
Cole flinched when he realized what he was asking.  
“Please. Answer honestly.”  
Yes. Promise. No. Yes. Promise. No.  
Toby let out a low growl, “Answer me.”  
Cole looked away, hiding his red face. An internal battle of 3 words waging in his head.  
Toby suddenly ripped off his goggles and mask, “Answer me dammit!”  
His scarred mouth was twisted into a teeth-baring frown; eyebrows arched in a manner that could only signal how enraged he was.  
Cole held back tears, stomach dropping, “No.”  
Toby froze, his eyes wide but clear. His lower lip started to quiver. His head dropped.  
Cole slowly got to his feet, “Toby.”  
He flinched. Teeth sinking into his lip hard enough to break skin. Of course that didn’t make him flinch. He was gone.  
Cole stood alone, his eyes found the discarded goggles and mask.  
~  
With a puff of black smoke, Cole appeared in his and Toby’s room. He stumbled a little finding his footing. Before he could properly stand, Toby shoved passed him.  
“Tobe can’t we-”  
“No.” His hand was on the door knob.  
“Where are you going?”  
Toby laughed, though it wasn’t joyful, “Now you care about me?”  
“I never said I d-”  
“Of course not. You just get close to me, try to kiss me, throw me off then say you don’t feel the same. Ha yeah you really care about me.”  
“Look I’m sorry, let me explain,” He took a step forward, Toby backed himself into the door, he cracked his left thumb.  
“You can ‘explain’ from there.”  
“It’s not that I don’t like you-”  
“Then why-”  
“Shut up. Let me speak. It’s not that I don’t like you. I can’t like you,” the weight on him grew.  
Tick. “What why? Because I’m a guy? If you haven’t noticed no one cares about that here.”  
Cole shook his head, “No.”  
“Then why?” Toby pushed himself off the door, his arms crossed.  
An image of red dripping walls passed.  
“No.”  
“No?” Tick.  
“I-I just can’t.” He clenched his teeth.  
Toby growled, “Grow the fuck up, Cole.” He turned and grabbed the door handle again, pulling the door open, a violent screech, “I really hope that Angelle girl didn’t-” Something shattered against the wall next to him, Toby whipped around Cole, the small mirror on their wall gone, a black aura emitted from around the black eyed proxy.  
“Do not bring her into this! She didn’t deserve what that harpy did to her!”  
Toby cracked his neck, “Of course this goes back to Ablaze! It always does. ‘The harpy did this’, ‘the harpy did that!’, ‘the harpy made me kill someone!’ News flash this is a house of murderers and demented beings!”  
Cole growled, ready to speak, Toby continued, “When you are over your emo-shtick, I’ll consider being your friend again.”  
He turned; pushing passed the crowd of housemates. The other two proxies followed him.  
Cole collapsed to the floor; the aura gone, all he wanted was to curl up somewhere and die again.  
He heard the click of the door and looked up to see the last person he wanted to see, “What do you want?”  
She smirked, her crimson orbs burning, “Let’s chat about this. Outside.”  
~  
The boy shot out of his bed and he wasted no time getting to the door, enduring the frozen floor. He made his way down the hall in a quick yet quiet manner. He was glad for the cleanliness of the home for there were no obstacles.  
Once he reached his destination, he fumbled for the doorknob.   
A soft click and a haunting gasps greeted his ears.


	5. Chapter 5

“What the fuck is your problem?” Ablaze growled.  
Cole leaned against the tree, his teeth gritted.  
“I know you hate me but I thought you liked Toby!” the demoness paced, sparks flicking from her fingers.  
“Why do you care anyway? You ruined my life,” Cole bit out.  
“Stop saying that. I helped you!” she stopped, “What do I have to do to make you stop saying that?!”  
“Nothing! You took my angel from me! The only reason I had to live!” The black aura flickered around him as it had before.  
~  
The door creaked open; a grey woman stood, blocking the path. She turned and gave a gnarled grin to the boy, “Payment complete.”  
Then she was gone, a black puff of smoke in her place.  
In front of her was a laptop, the red smeared screen flickered. The smell finally hit him and he gagged. He didn’t think he could ever look at pennies the same way again.  
He stepped further into the room, stomach turning further with each step. Why was he walking further? He knew what he would find.   
He stopped just in front of the bed, his foot hitting something. He slowly kneeled down, feeling the floor.   
Wet.  
Wet.   
Wet.   
Object. He picked it up.   
He didn’t have to see it to know what it was.  
The light suddenly clicked on. He froze.  
“Cole, what did you do?!” Mrs. Wint screamed.  
“I-I didn’t-” he dropped the knife.  
“Honey! Dylan!” Mrs. Wint continued screaming, “Call the police!”  
Cole heard footsteps, he grabbed the laptop off the bed and bolted toward the window. There was a crash. His skin stung and he was hurling for the ground, black and grey appeared beside him, he felt the tightening of the fabric on his back, and he was gone.  
~  
“You can’t do anything to erase what you’ve done,” Cole snarled.  
Ablaze blinked, “I understand, Cole.”  
“You don’t understand! You can never understand what it's like to lose your most cherished!”  
Ablaze thought for a moment. This wasn’t her story; it was Cole’s, but she did understand. Now just wasn’t the time to speak of herself, “Fine… If that's what you want to believe.”  
“Great, can I go now? I want to try to salvage whatever friendship I can with Toby,” Cole said as he moved away from the tree.  
“No-”  
“What more do you want to take from me?!” Cole interrupted.   
“I want you to calm down…” Her mouth twisted from one side to the other, “You’re more volatile than me with a can of gasoline.”  
“Right and how the fuck do you exp-”  
“Hit me,” Ablaze took her turn to interrupt.  
“What?” Cole stared at her, eyebrows lifted.   
“If you hate me so much, hit me. Take your anger out-”  
It was as if a switch went off and her head snapped to the side, she was sent reeling back before hitting the ground. Before she could get up she was pinned, a fist being repeatedly slammed into her face.  
By the fifth or so swing, his arm was grabbed. He froze as he felt her fingertips burning him through dark fabric. Her hair fell out of her face as she stared up at him, gnarled grin in place, blood leaking from just below her wide eyes. Her voice became distorted, “Who said I wasn’t planning on fighting back?”  
~  
“Come on, Toby!” Hoodie pleaded pulling at the doorknob… at this rate he was going to have to break the door down but he really didn’t want to deal with his boss’s anger.  
“Open the door, Kid! Talk to us!” Masky added as he stood next to the door frame.  
“Go away!” Toby shouted.  
~  
Cole jumped to his feet and charged at Ablaze. She teleported, reappearing behind him. After grabbing his shirt collar she threw him right into a tree.  
~  
“What happened, Toby?” Hoodie had stopped banging on the door by this point. Masky had pretty much given up by this point, deeming Toby a lost cause. It wasn’t the first time either.  
“I said go away.”  
“You’re in our room, Toby… we would like it back at some point,” Hoodie said.  
“Go fuck in the forest then. I’m not coming out.”  
That got Masky’s attention back and he exchanged a genuine look of concern with Hoodie. If the words were directed at him then Masky wouldn’t have batted an eye at it but he’d said it to Hoodie. Hoodie was the one Toby had formed the brotherly bond with after they pulled him from the fire and the Slenderman had revived him. Hoodie was the one Toby had actually looked up to and even asked for advice from. It was obvious now to Masky why. They had both been revived by the Slenderman and shared an actual bond from it. So to hear Toby be so blatantly disrespectful to Hoodie of all people was something that really made him worry about the boy. And what was worse was that the disrespect continued with each of Hoodie’s attempts to get him out. Soon the disrespect turned to blatant insults.  
~  
Several burning trees stood in the wake of their fight as they kept going. Punch after punch when Cole got close enough. A fireball. Ablaze was starting to unhinge as the violence continued and her fire was only being fueled more.   
~  
Hoodie had eventually backed away from the door, not being able to take the verbal assault from Toby anymore. There was the faintest sound of a sob that escaped from under his mask.  
Masky scowled under his mask, “Brian, move… I don’t care what the Slenderman will do after this,” Hoodie stepped back and Masky moved in front of the door, “Kid, if you are near the door, move. This is your only warning,” Masky then kicked the door open with a very forced kick. The lock of the door snapped and the door swung open.  
Before Toby or Hoodie could make any response Masky walked in and grabbed Toby by his arm then yanked him into the hallway with enough force that would dislocate a human’s shoulder. Even if it had none of them would have known because of Toby’s CIPA.  
“Whatever the fuck happened between you and Cole does not give you any reason to treat Brian how you have been. Go fucking talk to Cole before I figure out a way-”  
Just then Ben and Jeff pushed passed them, heading for the stairs. Ben was kind enough to yell back, “Ablaze’s fire is everywhere outside! She’s with Cole!”  
Toby shoved Masky off of him and bolted after them. Masky and Hoodie were right behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

Ablaze slammed Cole into a tree before punching him in the face with a flaming fist several times. Cole managed to throw her off, he conjured up some fire and threw it at her. As she was still recovering she was hit. It was a direct hit… but upon being hit her wounds started to heal. She sneered at him and giggled, “Thanks for the boost~”  
Ablaze got to her feet and charged him but suddenly a static sound rang out and Toby was between her and Cole.  
“S-Stop!” He twitched.  
Ablaze only snarled and grabbed him by the arm and hurled him into a tree, “Stay out of my way!”   
She blinked when she realized what she had done, “Holy shit, Toby!” Before she could move to check on him she was lifted off the ground. She got a brief look at Cole, he was surrounded in the black aura and his wounds seemed healed; she was then thrown through several trees. Ben and Jeff rushed over to check on her.  
Cole rushed over to Toby who was being looked over by Hoodie and Masky. A bone was clearly out of place in both his left arm and leg. Toby was insisting he was fine until Cole was there. He went completely silent. Both stared at each other for a moment, silently. When Hoodie suddenly started to push Toby's bones back into place Toby was snapped out of it by the pressure and the noise his arm made. Toby looking away snapped Cole out of it and he quickly teleported away.  
Hoodie did the same to Toby's leg before Masky helped him pick up the boy. Though Toby insisted he could walk they ignored him.  
~  
Cole sat in a tree and sighed, “I'm so sorry, Angel… I promised… I promised and I broke it.”  
He wiped away the tears that fell down his cheeks as he thought back to that day.  
~  
They had set up a picnic on the hilltop near her home. Cole suddenly stood from the blanket and walked to the tree that overshadowed them. Angelle looked up at him. Cole took his pocket knife out and carved something into the tree. It took a bit longer than he expected and his hands were tired after but he smiled once he had completed the task. He sat back down next to Angelle.  
The girl looked over the tree, a crudely etched heart stood out with 'A + C' inside it. She giggled and hugged him. "Coco, promise me something?"  
"Anything."  
~  
He had eventually gotten down from the tree and made his way back to the manor at a slow pace. The sun had risen by the time he arrived. He went upstairs, glad everyone else was in bed. He grimaced as he walked past Ablaze and Ben's room. Ben and Jeff were probably 'taking great care of her' since he had probably done more damage to her than anyone had done in a long time. Any thought of Ablaze made him feel sick but that was one that made him want to visit Korbyn.   
He got to the stairs that lead to the proxy level of the manor. His steps became even slower as he walked down the hall. As he slowly opened the door to his and Toby's room he noticed Masky and Hoodie's door was broken in. He shrugged and closed the door behind him. Toby was quietly asleep in his bed. Cole went to the bathroom that was connected to the room to shower the dirt and blood off him from the fight. His shower was long and hot just how he preferred them, though to be honest he simply stood in the spray for most of it.  
Once he had finished he wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped into the darker, colder room. He shivered slightly but made his way to his dresser and found something to sleep in for the night. A black tee shirt and a pair of black boxers. Instead of going to his bed he sat at the edge of Toby's for a few minutes. He stroked the boy's hair, watching him curl up a bit in his sleep. Cole leaned over and kissed his forehead. Toby made a small noise before opening his eyes.  
Cole froze as he looked up at him. His blue eyes staring at him tiredly, "Cole?... What time is it?"  
"It's late. Go back to sleep."  
"Why'd you wake me up then?" Toby frowned.  
"I was just making sure you were okay… Ablaze did hit you pretty hard earlier…"  
"Hoodie patched me up… only a broken leg and arm from what he could tell…" he said as he sat up, his dark blanket falling to reveal a sling on his arm.  
"Tobe…"  
"It'll be properly healed by morning… besides I can't even feel it," he joked.  
Cole frowned, "Really?"  
"Jokes aside I'm fine, really."  
Cole sighed and went to get up but Toby grabbed his arm with his free one, "Where are you going?"   
"To bed."  
Toby frowned, "We're not done talking yet."  
Cole sighed, "What else is there to talk about?"  
"You snapped when Ablaze threw me."  
"So?" Cole frowned.  
"...and you were beyond concerned when you came to check on me."  
"I… I was not," he lied.  
"Cole, why can't you be honest with me or yourself?"  
Cole grew silent again but sat next to him again. Toby looked at him waiting for an answer, he didn't want to argue anymore, he just wanted to know what was wrong. He wanted Cole to stop lying. He'd felt the kiss when he woke up after all.  
"Please, Cole," Toby begged, softly.  
Cole looked at him and sighed, "The promise I made to Angel…"  
Toby looked at him expectantly.. The same way she had when she'd made him promise.  
"Until the day I died…" Cole said quietly.  
"What?" Toby asked.  
"...I promised to love her until the day I died… I promised and I broke it."  
Toby looked at him silently.  
"In the time I've been here I've fallen in love with you and betrayed her…" Tears began to well up in his eyes.  
Toby moved his free hand to wipe his tears away, he flinched back. Toby gave him a calming shoosh, cradling his cheek, "Cole… It's okay."  
"No it's not… I betrayed her…"  
"No you didn't," Toby said, calmly.  
"How can you say that after what I just said?" Tears fell down his face.  
"Cole… You've been dead for the last two years," Toby said.  
Cole's eyes widened as he remembered the trigger he pulled… his last words before his former life ended.  
"You see?" Toby smiled, stroking his cheek, "You didn't betray her. You kept your promise."  
As the younger proxy's words finished, his eyes widened as Cole suddenly pulled him firmly against him, kissing him deeply.


	7. Chapter 7

Both boys pulled back breathing heavily, Toby touching his lips with his free hand. The last time he'd been kissed like that was before Natalie left and shattered his heart. He looked into Cole's voided eyes and felt as though he could do nothing wrong and that he would always be safe.  
Cole moved his hand and pulled him into another kiss, laying him down on his bed. Toby hummed and melted into the kiss, wrapping his free arm around his neck. Cole let out a purr as he positioned himself above him, a hand at his side to stable himself and a hand moved to push down Toby's sleep pants. Toby let out a hum of approval, though he couldn't feel heat in the traditional sense he thought he was boiling at that moment and welcomed less clothing. Their kiss deepened as Cole's hand caressed his slim, toned legs. Toby's breath caught as Cole's hand moved up.   
Cole broke the kiss at the action, making Toby whine cutely. Cole smiled, his already dark eyes somehow seeming darker, "Is this okay?"  
Toby nodded, not seeming to be able to find words as Cole's hand moved further. His eyes closing as the slightly calloused hand moved against his smooth skin.   
Cole leaned in slightly and began leaving kisses along his neck. Toby shivered, moving his hand to try to rid Cole of some clothing, though his hand was caught by Cole's and forced above his head. Toby whined at the confinement and loss of the touch that was so close to where he wanted. Feeling the smirk against his neck made him squirm and try to pull free... Honestly unsure if he wanted to smack him or shove him away to deny him what he wanted as well.  
His rowdiness calmed soon though as Cole pressed himself firm against him. He gasped, feeling the hardness behind Cole's boxers and wrapped his unbound leg around him, pulling him even closer. Cole let out a small growl in response, the sound holding no threat and making Toby shudder. Toby let out a small moan as he felt the kisses on his neck resume, along with the added sensation of hips rocking against his own.   
Cole's hand moved to lace his fingers with Toby's as he rocked against him, listening to the soft moans he let out. They stayed like this a while, Cole letting out a huff every so often from his own pleasure.   
As the time passed Cole moved his kissing from Toby's neck to his lips again, kissing him lazily.  
However Toby eventually let out a whine of 'more' between the kisses and his moans. Cole pulled back, unclasping their hands, he left Toby's leg around him as he rather enjoyed the feeling of it there. He pushed down his now slightly slick boxers. Shoving them to the bottom of the bed with Toby's sleep pants.  
He noticed Toby's gaze on his lower regions and smirked, "Expecting bigger~?"  
Toby's pale cheeks lit up as his eyes snapped back to meet his, "Wh-what n-no… I mean..."  
Cole chuckled, having not been surprised of them being similar in girth, they were pretty similar in build as well, Cole just having slightly broader shoulders while Toby's hips were just a bit wider than his.   
"It's fine I'm just messing with you… I know I'm pretty average… besides it's not the size that counts really…" Cole smirked, "It's what you do with it~"  
Toby blushed more, though his words made him curious, "...Did you and Angelle?..."  
Cole blinked, caught off guard, "A few times…"  
He was expecting Toby's demeanor to change, but not in the way it did, as he was kissed pretty roughly. Cole hummed, letting Toby pull him closer. He let out a small groan as he relished the feeling of their hips coming into contact again. It seemed as if Toby wanted to make it so he was a better experience than Angelle was… and to be honest Cole wanted to make sure Toby couldn't even try to compare this to whatever he and Natalie had done when they were together… so he very much welcomed the commanding change.   
Toby's hand felt its way into Cole's hair as their kiss deepened, becoming more sloppy as they added their tongues into the mix. Wanting to bring back the more than pleasant friction from before Cole began rocking against him again. The new sensation of not having cloth in the way was intoxicating, making him speed up his movements much to Toby's delight judging by the sound he made.  
Toby pulled at Cole's hair, making him growl slightly and nip at Toby's lip, making him moan in approval. Soon Cole was rutting against him eagerly, making him moan into their kisses with no amount of shame.   
Though the action just wasn't enough to completely satisfy them, Cole wanted to hear from Toby what to do next. He knew exactly what he wanted by his sounds alone but he wanted -no needed- to hear it.  
Soon Toby's moans turned into desperate whines, it was almost enough to make Cole move this along, but he still needed to hear him say it. Just two words, because let's face it by now Toby wouldn't be able to form proper sentences.  
Toby let out a whine of frustration, pulling at Cole's hair again making him groan and bite into his shoulder as their kisses had stopped. To his delight, Toby let out a moan at the bite. He was expecting him to not feel it at all but he guessed maybe pain registered as pleasure instead of nothing in this situation… He'd be sure to test it out more sometime, but Toby seemed to be being stubborn so he figured he'd help him along.  
He kissed over his shoulder and up to his ear, "Tell me what you want, Baby~"  
Toby whimpered, "Please…"  
"Please what~?" Cole ran his tongue over the edge of his ear.  
"F-fuck…~"  
"Yes~?" From the growl he received he knew he was frustrating him.  
"C'mon, Toby… Tell me what you want~"  
Toby let out another growl, "Fuck me already, Cole!"  
Cole, surprised by the full sentence but eager to give him what he wanted, pulled back. For a brief moment he considered going slow, but seeing how frustrated Toby was, and honestly he was too, plus it wouldn't hurt him so he decided to just go for it, once adjusting himself inside in the slightest he thrusted into him, harsh and quick. Toby moaned in sheer delight while Cole was taken aback by just how tight he was, it actually hurt. Toby's moan however made him careless about his own pain as it would relieve itself soon. Toby's leg was like a vice grip around him as he started to move, his thrusts beyond unforgiving. The sounds the other made only fueled him more. He could barely hear the bed shifting beneath them as he lost himself in his and Toby's pleasure. His face was buried in Toby's shoulder, Toby's hand no longer in his hair as his hand found Cole's, their fingers laced and nails drawing the slightest bit of blood.  
Too soon they came crashing down, Cole having just enough subconsciousness to pull out just in time, leaving a mess on Toby and the sheets. Toby left his own messing on his stomach, it only being made worse as Cole all but collapsed onto him. All they could hear was their panting and their hearts.   
Once they had come down from their highs Cole helped Toby out of bed and to the bathroom so they could clean up. One shower later they lay in Cole's bed, having decided to clean up Toby's in the morning. They shared lazy kisses and fond "I love you"s as they dosed. Cole got the last one in before they drifted off, adding, "Until the day I die."


End file.
